


Wrong Place at the Right Time

by Rose_of_Pollux



Series: Inktober for Writers, 2019 [9]
Category: Perfect Strangers
Genre: F/M, Gen, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-11-28 17:01:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20969978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_of_Pollux/pseuds/Rose_of_Pollux
Summary: [Post-series].  Larry’s reporter instinct is always flawless when it comes to leading him to a good story.  Unfortunately, it usually is just as flawless in leading him into trouble.





	Wrong Place at the Right Time

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Castle Window](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/525845) by chill13. 

> This piece is for today’s Inktober prompt (“swing”), and is post-series, but references the events of episode 7x4, “Weekend at Ferdinand’s.” This fic was also largely inspired by an absolutely amazing fanart by Chill13 entitled “The Castle Window,” which features Larry in the predicament I’ve written him in this piece. I know this piece is a bit of a cliffhanger; if there’s any interest, I’ll continue it somewhere down the line.
> 
> Since we never got to see the Myposian royal residence in the show itself, I took a few creative liberties and based it largely off of Hyrule Castle and its surrounding Castle Town from _Breath of the Wild_ (the pre-Calamity glory days, naturally…).

If there was one thing that Larry took pride in, it was his skills as a journalist. He had the uncanny ability to sense a story in the making, as well as knowing the best way to put the idea to paper—wordsmithing, he liked to call it. It was why Wainwright had sent him on assignment to Athens to cover the newly-discovered ruins of a temple to Athena Parthenos separate from the better-known Parthenon; Wainwright had also assigned Balki to go with him, knowing that Balki would be able to provide a lot of knowledge on the subject to help with the story. Jennifer and Mary Anne, never ones to miss out on a reason for a getaway, were able to get assignments on the Athens flight. But times had changed since their first getaways together—and for the better. For now, it was no longer just the four of them as, over the years, young love had deepened to true commitment (albeit after a few hiccups along the way); knots had been tied, and each couple would be taking their year-old son with them on the journey.

Larry and Jennifer’s son, Tucker, a boy as plucky as befitting for the unique circumstances of his birth, had inherited Larry’s expressive eyes and curly hair, though his curls were blond, courtesy of Jennifer. And, mercifully, he’d managed to avoid inheriting his parents’ anxiety issues, both of whom had been fretting over how he would handle his first plane ride, only for Tucker to baffle the both of them by sleeping through most of it.

“Cousin, he was born in a hot-air balloon,” Balki had reminded Larry. “He probably feels right at home in an airplane!”

Larry hadn’t been sure if that was it, but he’d take it as an explanation, anyway.

Balki and Mary Anne’s son, Robespierre, though awake for most of the flight, had been happy and absorbed in the books that Balki read to him as he cuddled Dimitri. Robespierre had several of his father’s Mediterranean features, including his dark hair—but the child’s eyes were distinctly Mary Anne’s.

The flight went off without a hitch for both children, and once the business in Athens had been completed, it meant a detour to Mypos for Balki and Mary Anne to introduce Robespierre to Balki’s mother before returning Stateside. Naturally, the Appletons were willing to join them on the detour.

They had arrived on Mypos to find the island in much of a stir; emissaries from Skeptos had arrived before them, apparently attempting to form some sort of trade accords with the Myposian government.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” Balki mused. “We’ve never gotten along well with the Skeptics. And they’ve never gotten along with us. I wonder if it’s because of Queen Cookie’s relaxed attitude…”

Larry had sensed a story in the works from that description alone. Knowing that Wainwright would be impressed if he returned to Chicago with two stories instead of just one, Larry excused himself after introducing Tucker to Balki’s mother, and set off for the royal residence—the castle at the foot of Mt. Mypos.

The bustling little town surrounding the castle was more active and busy than Balki’s village hometown. And Larry found himself somewhat of a minor celebrity, having assisted (well, sort of…) Balki in his negotiations with Worldwide Amalgamated’s quest for purchasing Myposian land a few years ago, and then again for, two years later, hosting then-King Ferdinand at their house in Chicago.

Larry was readily granted access to the castle interior and spent some time searching for where the negotiations with the Skeptics were taking place. He soon got his answer—scrambling out of the way as Queen Cookie, her husband, and someone who was undoubtedly the current Head Negotiator (he was wearing the Hat of a Thousand Quibbles, at any rate) angrily stormed from the meeting room, talking over each other in Myposian—but in angry tones.

Behind them, the Skeptics followed, also speaking in angry tones. Larry glanced inside the meeting room, taking note of the papers inside. He slipped inside to take a glance at them, sighing as he saw that they weren’t in English.

He consoled himself by taking a few pictures of the documents; perhaps he could convince Balki to translate them later…

His train of thought came to a screeching halt as he heard some people returning; not wanting to be caught prying, he searched for another way out—but found none, aside from the window. Desperate, he grabbed the thick curtain cord and clambered out the window with it, aiming to drop onto a balcony.

It had seemed like a good idea at that particular moment… but it was as he found himself swinging over empty air that Larry realized the hard way that there was no balcony. Climbing back wasn’t an option; the Skeptics were still arguing, but quickly lowered their voices, switching to a more conspiratorial tone.

Larry climbed a bit up the curtain rod to see through the window, and it was that point that, as reference was made to the Queen and her husband, one of the Skeptics uttered the word “kuzotski,” and made a stabbing motion as the others nodded in agreement.

Larry quickly clambered back down the curtain cord, out of sight, hardly daring to believe what he was hearing. Though he didn’t understand most of the conversation, he knew what a _kuzotski_ was, having nearly been at the receiving end of the Skeptos-made sword, spared only by Balki’s timely intervention. But now, the Skeptics seemed to have designed on the Myposian royal family with the sword—and nothing good could come of that.

He had to find a way down and deliver the warning! The only option, however, seemed to be trying to find handholds in the stone wall of the castle. Larry exhaled in nervousness, but then swung over to the wall.

It was at this point that Larry glanced down, noticing Balki, Jennifer, Mary Anne, and the kids walking along the path on the castle grounds—no doubt looking for Larry after he hadn’t returned.  
It was Tucker who had spotted him first.  
“_Da_!” the boy exclaimed, happily pointing at his father.  
“Oh, Tucker, your dad isn’t up there…” Jennifer began, but she trailed off as she looked up to see her husband dangling in midair, trying to grab at a stone wall. “Oh, God—he is! _Larry_!?”  
“What does he think he’s _doing_!?” Balki exclaimed. “…I mean, besides the obvious…”  
Somehow, Larry managed to grab onto some handholds among the old stones of the castle wall. The stones being uneven proved to be a Godsend; he had a way to hold on, perhaps even make it down… Well, he would have to try, anyway—at least make it enough of a ways down before the Skeptics took a look out the window and realized he’d been eavesdropping.

“Oh, this is bad…” Mary Anne fretted, as they watched Larry attempt to scale the wall down. “He’s no good at bouldering!”

“Larry, stop!” Jennifer pleaded. “You’ll never make it!”

Larry was still too close to the window to respond without being heard; he glanced back down, trying to give Jennifer a reassuring glance, but quickly got a flash of vertigo and had to focus back on the wall, catching his breath before attempting to continue the climb downward, much to Jennifer’s horror.

Tucker was quickly picking up on his parents’ distress; he whimpered slightly, trying, in vain, to reach out to his father.

“I know what to do!” Balki suddenly exclaimed. He handed off Robespierre to Mary Anne and darted across the grounds back to the marketplace. He came back a few minutes later with several of the residents, all of them grabbing part of a large canvas tarp that had been covering one of the marketplace stalls; they got into position, holding the tarp, and waited.

The sight of the tarp had only provided a slight bit of comfort; Larry knew that the higher he was, the less useful it would be. He kept climbing down, stopping every so often to regain some of his stamina, and, slowly, Jennifer began to breathe easier as the distance between Larry and the ground decreased.

It was an agonizing length of time before Larry was finally close enough to let go and safely fall upon the tarp; the Mypiots set him down gently, and Balki drew him into a relieved hug after helping him to his feet.

“I owe you one, Balki,” Larry said, hardly daring to believe the feat he’d pulled off.

“_Larry_!”

Larry flinched and now turned to face the others. Jennifer looked half-furious, and half on the verge of tears; Tucker, at least, was happy again, reaching out to him. Larry quickly took his son in his arms and then attempted to soothe his distraught wife.

“Jen? It’s alright now, Jen—”

“_What were you thinking_!?” she shrieked.

“Cousin Jennifer, I’m sure Cousin Larry has a very good reason for why he was dangling from the castle window,” Balki assured her, and he turned to face Larry. “At least, he better have a good reason.”

“Yes, I had an _excellent_ reason; I was trying not to be spotted by the Skeptics, who are plotting an assassination of the royal family!” Larry hissed in an undertone, trying not to let the other villagers hear him, in case any of them understood English.

“But I thought the Skeptics came for a trade agreement?” Mary Anne asked.

“They did, but it went sour fast, and now they’re out for blood,” Larry said. “And unless we warn the royals, it’s going to be the Romanovs all over again!”

“Cousin, the Skeptic dialect can be a little hard to follow,” Balki said, slightly nervous. “Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand?”

Larry cradled Tucker with one arm and used his free arm to hand over his tape recorder to Balki. He then drew his free arm around Jennifer as Balki played back the tape; Jennifer’s expression was unreadable, but she did rest her head on Larry’s shoulder, giving his arm a squeeze.

Balki suddenly shut the tape off, looking grim.

“…You were right, Cousin. It was their plan B all along in case things did not work out. They… They want to kill Queen Cookie and have one of them catch her as she falls so that he will be the next ruler of Mypos.”

“Can they do that!?” Mary Anne asked.

“Yes, they can,” Larry sighed. “Take my word for it. But they won’t be able to do it if we can get a warning in—but without creating a stir. We can’t let them know that we’re on to them—and we can’t start a panic among the villagers here.”

Balki determinedly planted his foot on a rock.

“I will find a way to warn the royal family,” he vowed.

“Me, too,” Mary Anne vowed, also planting her foot on a rock.

“Mary Anne, this isn’t your fight!” Jennifer protested.

“Jennifer, I’m pretty sure ‘For better or for worse’ includes helping my husband save his country of origin from a coup,” Mary Anne insisted.

Jennifer shook her head in disbelief and looked to Larry, who could only give her an apologetic expression.

“Jen, I’m sorry, but…” He, too, planted his foot on a rock.

“Larry, _why_!?”

“Because it’s my fault that Cookie is the queen in the first place!” Larry confessed. “She wasn’t the first one to catch Ferdinand when he died—_I_ was! But I knew I’d be a horrible king—I convinced Balki to try to make it seem as though Cookie’s husband was going to catch him for the first time, but she caught him instead. …Task failed successfully? I don’t know—but everything was going fine until now! And as much as I don’t want to get involved, I can’t stand back knowing that she’s in danger because of my decision!” A pained expression crossed his face. “…That’s the problem with having a conscience—it always activates at the worst possible moments.”

Balki placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him an encouraging nod.

“We are doing the right thing, Cousin. We will be okay—I know it.”

Jennifer sighed deeply, but then planted her foot on a rock, as well.

“…Jen?” Larry asked.

“…‘For better or for worse,’” she said, echoing Mary Anne’s words. “But I draw the line at Tucker and Robespierre getting involved in this!”

“She’s right, Balki,” Larry agreed.

“Okay,” Balki said. “Mary Anne, you and Cousin Jennifer take the boys to Mama, and then meet Cousin Larry and me back here later—we’ll find someone to tell you exactly where to find us.”

“Be careful,” Mary Anne replied, kissing him.

Jennifer took Tucker back from Larry, kissing him as well.

With a look back, the girls had gone, taking the children with them. After a moment, Balki turned back to his cousin.

“If you have a plan, now would be a good time to share it,” he said.

Larry gave him a wan smile.

“Unfortunately, this time, I don’t. We’re gonna have to wing it, Buddy.”

Balki responded with a nod.

“Then let’s fly the friendly skies!”

The cousins headed for the castle gate, determined to see this through.


End file.
